Typically, a baby goes to sleep after drinking a bottle of milk or formula from a nursing bottle. Frequently, a baby will fall completely asleep with a nursing bottle in its mouth while still drinking from the bottle. This results in the milk or other contents from the nursing bottle maintaining contact with the baby's teeth for extended periods of time which results in tooth decay of the baby's teeth.
A number of improvements have been made to the conventional nursing bottle for administering a second liquid which is distinct from the contents of the nursing bottle. However, these improvements have typically been in the area of medicine dispensing in connection with a nursing bottle. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,680,441 to Krammer, issued Jun. 8, 1954, discloses a nursing bottle having a separate syringe attached to the nipple of the nursing bottle. The syringe contains a rubber bulb adjacent to the closed end of the bottle which must be manually depressed to evacuate the contents of the syringe. More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,895 to Roskilly, issued Apr. 18, 1989, discloses a nursing bottle having a separate syringe attached to the nipple. The plunger of the syringe must be manually depressed to administer the contents of the syringe into the nipple of the nursing bottle. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,122 to Botts, issued Sep. 14, 1993, also discloses a nursing bottle having a manually operated syringe disposed within the nursing bottle. However, as with the prior art, the plunger of the syringe must be manually operated which is inconvenient.
A related type of nursing bottle comprises two separate compartments within the nursing bottle, wherein one compartment is punctured to release the contents in the second compartment. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,786,769 to Greenspan, issued Mar. 26, 1957, discloses a nursing bottle having an inner compartment which is punctured using a threaded shank or screw and must be manually operated from the exterior of the nursing bottle. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,741,383 to Wittwer, issued Jun. 26, 1973, discloses a nursing bottle having an inner compartment which is punctured with a sharp object such as a needle prior to administering the contents of the nursing bottle.
Another nursing bottle design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,655,279 to Wolf, issued Oct. 13, 1953, wherein a flexible tube having a weighted end is placed within the nursing bottle. The tube has a hollow bore running throughout which allows passage of the contents of the nursing bottle to the nipple. The first end of the tube is attached to the nipple while the second end of the tube is placed near the bottom surface of the nursing bottle. The weighted member enables the tube to bend when the nursing bottle is moved from a vertical to a horizontal orientation. Thus, the second end of the tube remains submerged in the contents of the nursing bottle regardless of the orientation of the bottle which eliminates excess air. However, this nursing bottle does not provide two separate compartments for delivering two separate liquids but instead provides a tube for delivering one liquid.
Another medicine dispensing nursing bottle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,701 to Roth at al., issued Jul. 9, 1991, which has the medication vile disposed within the bottle. However, this nursing bottle does not allow any liquid to be dispensed from within the bottle itself but only from the medication vile which is completely sealed in relation to the nipple. Thus, the bottle only houses the vile and is not in open communication with the it.